Big weekend for stock car fans. Saturday saw one of the most horrific wrecks in memory on the last lap of the Nationwide race. A car was sheared in half at the finish line, with a tire and some suspension components bouncing over the catch fence and landing in the stands, where several fans were injured, two critically. Amazingly, the car's engine ended up coming through the fence and landing in the walkway at the foot of the stands. For race fans, it was a once in a lifetime sight.
The signature event, the Daytona 500, was largely overshadowed by hype about Danica Patrick, the GoDaddy poster girl who somehow took the pole position for the race, an unprecedented feat for a female driver. She drove a steady if cautious race and finished 8th, after running in the top 3 for much of the race and being in the third slot on the last lap.
The race marked the first running of the new generation stock car, the so-called gen 6 car, which replaced the unloved Car of Tomorrow model. The COT was an ugly brick of a car, easily the ugliest car of any racing series in the world. The new car at least bears some surface resemblance to the brands it is meant to represent.
Unfortunately, the car's debut was a total dud, producing the most boring 500 in recent memory. The combination of aerodynamics, bumper shape, etc created a car that had zero ability to pass. This issue of cars not being able to get by a car running in clean air has been a big problem for NASCAR recently and creates tedious, boring races that are often decided on fuel economy. It is beyond disappointing that they apparently did nothing to fix the problem and seemingly made it worse.
In other news, the race was won by Jimmie Johnson. I wonder if anyone cares?
The signature event, the Daytona 500, was largely overshadowed by hype about Danica Patrick, the GoDaddy poster girl who somehow took the pole position for the race, an unprecedented feat for a female driver. She drove a steady if cautious race and finished 8th, after running in the top 3 for much of the race and being in the third slot on the last lap.
The race marked the first running of the new generation stock car, the so-called gen 6 car, which replaced the unloved Car of Tomorrow model. The COT was an ugly brick of a car, easily the ugliest car of any racing series in the world. The new car at least bears some surface resemblance to the brands it is meant to represent.
Unfortunately, the car's debut was a total dud, producing the most boring 500 in recent memory. The combination of aerodynamics, bumper shape, etc created a car that had zero ability to pass. This issue of cars not being able to get by a car running in clean air has been a big problem for NASCAR recently and creates tedious, boring races that are often decided on fuel economy. It is beyond disappointing that they apparently did nothing to fix the problem and seemingly made it worse.
In other news, the race was won by Jimmie Johnson. I wonder if anyone cares?
